The Origin
by Tahnee Brown
Summary: Ever wonder how Pokémon were found? This could be how. It is the legend mentioned in Leah Coyta's Pokémon Journey.


I do not own Pokémon, I wish I did though...Every thing else is mine. Please don't take anything without my consent. It's not done, but it will explain why Leah is afraid.

Origin Legend

Years ago, a group of settlers found an uncharted island west of their homeland. It was a beautiful land, full of lush landscapes and abundant food, both plant and animal. They saw that this land was host to the same game as their home, buffalo, deer, trout, pigeons, and they knew that the store of animals they had brought would survive on the miles of open plains that lay ahead. Their cattle, chickens horses and goats would suffice as food and transportation until they could be sure that this new land could support them. They built their homes between a river and the nearest forest. They hunted during the day and spend their nights cleaning the kills. This was a wise choice, for strange noises could be heard coming from the forest at night. The eerie howlings often sounded like words to the settlers, which gave them the idea that the forest was haunted. They would pray to their Gods for protection from angry spirits every night. They would ask forgiveness from these spirits for any harm they had done to this new land. However, the settlers would not leave this fertile new land, no matter how scared their children were at night. Because of the spirits, many of the settlers moved their homes closer to the river, and farther away from the forest. All but one family.

The father of this family would not give up his access to the forest, for they always caught a good deer not far from where they entered the forest. In this family, the father was not the only one to hunt. He would take his eldest son with him to teach him to bring down dinner in case the father could not. The boy had just witnessed his seventeenth spring, and was almost a man, ready to be married. He had brought down many good deer when his mother fell ill. Therefore, the father was forced to stay by his wife, in case she need anything. He would not trust his youngest son to look after her, for the boy was only six.

The eldest, Atmrin, was distraught by his mother's sudden illness, and often spent his time outside of the house, so as to not be saddened by her. When Atmrin was finished hunting, he would bring the kill back to be cleaned in the shed he and his father had built. Then he would take that nights dinner in to be cooked. The leftover meat would be smoked in another shed, and stored in yet another. This last shed was where Atmrin would spend his free time. He would sit at a makeshift desk and stare out the sole door at the forest. He would often sketch what he saw, the trees, a squirrel, the birds making their nests or grazing in the meadow. He would even sketch their only pony chasing those birds.

One day, after cleaning his recent kill, Atmrin felt abnormally tired. Instead of heading home, he decided to go to the shed to read the Holy Book. After a while, he fell asleep. When he woke, it was near dark. As he gathered up his book and candle, he saw a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turned around he saw the strangest creature eating the grass in front of the door. When he took a step toward the animal, it noticed him, and bolted. "What in the world..?" He ran out of the shed to look for the creature, but it had disappeared into the forest. He continued on his way to the house when his younger brother rushed out to meet him.

"Mother is dying, Atmrin!"

"By the Gods!" They both ran into the house and up the stairs to their parent's room.

"Son. She asked for you."

"Mother!" He jumped to her side and grasped her hand.

"Atmrin, you must be strong. For your brother, your father and yourself. I'm sorry to leave you. Please, make sure to carry on your father's name. I love you my son. I love you all. Good bye."

From that day on, Atmrin no longer had to do all of the hunting, which gave him more time to sketch. He was quite good, and often sold them in the village to any who would buy them. With the money, he would buy his brother little toys so that he would not be sad about their mother. Atmrin would also give some of his drawings to him as well. One was a beautiful sketch of their mother, which his little brother then gave to their father. This was the first time that he saw his son's drawings. It was promptly hung over his wife's side of the bed. The next day, he gave his youngest son one gold coin and sent him to town. The father followed his younger son outside, but instead of going to town with him, he went out to the shed.

"Son, I see you can draw."

"Yeah."

"You know your mother could draw."

"No."

"She could."

"Wow. How come you never told me?"

"It never came up. You know that picture you drew of your mother looks just like her."

"Yeah. I drew it a while ago. When she was still well."

"I could tell. You know, son, your mother would be proud of you skill. I sent your brother to town, he should be back soon. Be sure you wait for him, I'm going hunting."

"All right father." And so he left. Atmrin went back to his newest sketch. It was of one of the girls he new who lived in the village. He had spent time with her and her friends the last time he was in town, and she had grown close to him sense. She had been there right after is mother had past, and even let him cry on her shoulder, something he had never done before. She had become one of his only friends. He thought she would be pleased with his idea of courtship. The sketch was coming along well. As he was taking a lunch break, he glimpsed the same little creature on the edge of the woods. He cautiously stood up, sandwich in hand, and tiptoed over to the door. He took a bite and then ripped a piece off and threw it to the creature. It jumped into the air and then took a step toward the piece and sniffed it. Then it gobbled it up, saw Atmrin, and ran away. "Well. Good to know."

Atmrin headed back to the shed when he saw someone running toward him. He recognized the gait instantly. "Hello, Aethen. What's the hurry?"

"Nothing. Just bored. I saw your brother messing around in the trade shop. Do you know why?"

"Dad sent him in for something. You're bored? Want something to do?"

"Actually, I kinda lied. I want you to teach me to play the lyre. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Just let me get it." Atmrin walked back to the shed to put away his sketches. Aethen hadn't seen them yet and wasn't going to until he was done. He picked up his book and led Aethen into his house. She sat down at their dinner table while Atmrin ambled upstairs. He set the book down on his desk and absently looked out the window. There, next to the woods, was that little creature nibbling at the edge of the forest. Now that he wasn't afraid of scaring it away, he could look it over. It was the size of the Holy Book that was in their church. Which happened to be a foot long. The animal was also...purple? Could that be? Yes. It definitely was purple. It curiously reminded Atmrin of a rat, but it had a large, curled tail and giant whiskers. He thought about telling Aethen, but it might run away. So he just stood there, watching the little 'rat' ate the acorns that had fallen from the trees above. Then he remembered why he was there, and ran to his parent's room to get their lyre. As he as making his way down the stairs again, his father came home.

"Hello, sir. How was hunting?"

"Fine, Aethen. I shot down a beautiful buck. It should give us dinner for a while. Where's Atmrin?"

"He's getting the lyre so that he can teach me."

"Oh. Well, I just go clean and smoke it then."

"I'll do it dad, if you want."

"No. You promised to teach her. Besides, if you clean it, that means I'll have to teach Aethen, and I bet she doesn't want that." With a wink and a smile toward Aethen. "But if you do need help, you know where to find me." And he turned around and walked back out of the house towards the shed. Atmrin walked over to where Aethen sat and pulled out the chair next to her.

"This string is A."

Atmrin's little brother came home within the hour with a gift for him. He found their father still in the cleaning shed where he was told to wait until his brother was through with Aethen's lesson.

"You may give it to him when Aethen leaves."

"Father, why did you have my buy this for brother?"

"Because. I thought it would help him to draw better. Hold this, please."

"Will he draw more pictures of mother?"

"...That is up to him. He probably has other projects right now."

"Has she left yet?"

"I don't know, son. Just wait. She is one of the very few friends he has. Let them alone."

"But father. I want to give him his gift. Maybe he will draw another picture of mother with it."

"...Son." He turned to look at him. "Let your brother alone. You may not understand as of yet, but he is growing old. He needs a wife. Any time alone with a woman, hopefully will get him closer to marriage. I'm getting on as well. He needs someone to carry on our name. Let, let him be right now."

"Alright. Can I give it to him now? Aethen's leaving."

"As soon as she is gone, yes."


End file.
